*By Jacqueline Corba*
Bitcoin soared back above the [$8,000 mark this week for the first time since May](https://cheddar.com/videos/reddit-co-founder-on-the-state-of-cryptocurrency). The surge comes as more institutional investors look to grab a piece of the still-emerging crypto market.
"From a stored value perspective I'm a Bitcoin maximalist," [Fin co-CEO and co-Founder Sam Lessin](https://cheddar.com/videos/tech-entrepreneur-sam-lessin-authors-childrens-book-on-bitcoin) told Cheddar's Crypto Craze Thursday. "If you look at the broader blockchain and crypto ecosystem, I don't think people fully appreciate how deeply big a deal it is to have an immutable ledger globally."
Lessin, who served as a vice president of product management at Facebook from 2010 to 2014, joins fellow Facebook alum Anthony Pompliano in his bullish outlook on Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market cap.
"I've got a high degree of confidence that at some point in the future its going to hit $50,000. And I've got some degree of confidence that it will be by the end of this year," Pompliano, who now runs Morgan Creek Digital Assets, told Cheddar.
The factors driving the value up? Human psychology, speculation around a [cryptocurrency ETF](https://www.coindesk.com/bitwise-proposes-etf-for-top-10-cryptos/), and growing institutional interest, said Pompliano.
Facebook itself even wants in on crypto. In May, [Cheddar reported Facebook is developing its own digital currency](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-plans-to-create-its-own-cryptocurrency-2).
"I have a lot of respect for the Facebook team," said Lessin. "What they have is a fundamental networkーthe biggest one ever in the history of the world connecting people." He called a Facebook move toward crypto an "obvious play."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjExNzY=).
If a measure for fossil fuels is included, the groups insist, similar support should be extended to clean energy and electric vehicles, insiders tell Cheddar.
Harnessing the cooling fans from F-150 pickups and the battery packs for its power tools, Ford on Tuesday announced that it will start making sorely-needed ventilators, respirators and medical face masks to help alleviate dire shortages as coronavirus cases surge across the country.
While the spread of the coronavirus has caused millions of layoffs across the country, select businesses are on a hiring spree to meet increased demand related to the outbreak.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday said that his companies are on track to build and ship approximately 1,200 direly-needed ventilators as soon as this week.
The New York Stock Exchange’s famously hectic trading floor was dead quiet this morning as it opened for the first time in its history without traders.
Streaming video companies like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon have all agreed to reduce the quality of their streaming videos in Europe in order to reduce the strain on Internet bandwidth during the coronavirus pandemic.
GM and Tesla are among the top U.S. automakers that are looking to potentially switch over stalled auto production into the manufacturing of badly needed medical ventilators amid the coronavirus crisis.
Square received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) late Wednesday to launch an independent bank focused on providing loans to small businesses – at a time when they’ll surely need them most.
The bank will continue to pay branch employees for their regularly scheduled hours even if they are affected by reduced hours, branch closures, or asked to stay home, the letter said. It is also giving branch employees two additional paid vacation days.
Square is making a supportive gesture to business customers going through financial pain due to the effects of social distancing in the time of COVID-19.
